Howry and Holmes create hand held body contact scanner

In the 1950's and 1960's the work of Douglas Howry and Joseph Holmes had groundbreaking work that produced B-mode ultrasound images and is still used today. Up until that point, ultrasound devices required the patient to be at least partially immersed in water to make a 2D image. They invented a scanner that had a
transducer
that was put in direct contact with the patient. This changed
ultrasound procedures
dramatically.

They developed a multi-joint articulated arm contact scanner. They were able to position the transducer by hand and move it to various angles to get the best ultrasound pictures. This was the grandfather of the modern machines that are smaller, more portable, and easier to transport and use.